Carolina Panthers (3-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-1)

The Bengals got destroyed last week by the Patriots, who got destroyed the previous week by the Chiefs, and now they’re without AJ Green, after already being without Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert. How will they be able to bounce back? Well, for one thing, they’re getting Vontaze Burfict and possibly Kevin Zeitler back from injury. Those guys don’t put up the flashy fantasy stats that AJ Green does, but those are valuable members of their team returning to or possibly returning to action. Two, and more importantly, they return home, where they have been incredible over the past two seasons.

The Bengals have not only won 11 straight regular season home games, but they’ve also covered all 11 and won by an average of 17.00 points per game. The Bengals have already destroyed both the Titans and Falcons in Cincinnati this year, by scores of 26 and 14 respectively. Carolina is better than Tennessee, but they’re comparable to Atlanta. The team that went 12-4 last season is gone as a result of all their off-season losses and the suspension of Greg Hardy and now what’s left is an average team that could easily become Cincinnati’s next blowout victim at home.

The AJ Green injury is one reason this isn’t a bigger play. The other reason is that the Bengals have a tougher game on deck as they head to Indianapolis next week for a game that almost definitely will have some sort of playoff seeding implications. Teams are 70-100 ATS since 2008 as non-divisional home favorites before being non-divisional road underdogs. The Bengals are still the play here as mere 6.5 point favorites.

Cincinnati Bengals 24 Carolina Panthers 13

Pick against spread: Cincinnati -6.5

Confidence: Medium

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